Open Your Windows
by nateypob10
Summary: Stiles gets a spontaneous summer job, not realizing how close it will bring him to some, and how far it will push him from others.
1. Chapter 1

"Look, over there. That's him."

Stiles pointed across the street as he said it, his heart fluttering in his chest. He didn't even know his name, or who he was, but...he wanted to. He wanted to know about this guy's life, about his interests and his family and his favorite food and what time he would go to bed and... He was getting ahead of himself.

"Whoah man... He's-"

"Hot, yeah..." Stiles sighed. This guy was way out of his league, and by the looks of it, at least a couple years older than him. Stiles continued to watch as he stopped across the street and looked at his phone; looking around, almost as if he was looking for something. He looked at Stiles, who had already been staring at him, and Stiles quickly averted his eyes.

He absentmindedly took a sip of his coffee and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well, why don't you talk to him?"

Stiles scoffed and gave him a dirty look. "Scott, I can't just 'talk to him'. I wouldn't even know what to say! I don't know who he is, what he does, hell I don't even know if he likes guys! If I knew we had, like, a common interest or a reason to talk, or something, then maybe I would!"

"Suit yourself. All I'm saying is that it can't hurt."

Stiles sighed again. "Look, can we just go inside? I wanna see if they've got any new books."

Stiles and Scott had a lot of free time over the summer, and they ended up spending a lot of it at a bookstore that had recently opened up. It was small and though it was new, had an ancient air about it. The book store was technically only half of it; the first floor was a coffee shop that had a few tables and cushioned window ledges. It was actually a pretty genius idea, customers didn't have to buy books to read them so they could check them out and read them for free, as long as they didn't leave the store.

The two would meet their almost every day, get a coffee and talk. When they were together they didn't do much reading, but on days when Scott was busy with other things, Stiles would curl up on one of the ledges and sometimes spend a whole day just reading. He started the summer by finishing all of his schoolwork for the next year, so he planned on spending the remainder of it doing what he wanted.

On that particular day, on their way up the creaky narrow staircase that led to the library, Stiles noticed for the first time a sign that said in messy blue letters, "Help Wanted". He stopped frowned, wondering how he had missed it for multiple weeks. Scott was already on the floor above, and by the sound of it talking to someone that he knew. Stiles shrugged and the idea of getting a job there suddenly popped into his mind. He spent a majority of his time there anyway, why not get paid for it too? He quickly scurried up the stairs, the sounds of conversation growing louder.

Scott was facing towards him, so Stiles couldn't see the girl he was talking to. Her hair looked familiar though, it was long and curly and strawberry blonde, and Stiles didn't know why he was drawing a complete blank. Scott noticed him and gestured towards Stiles. She turned around and ran towards him, tackling him with a hug. Stiles was in shock, realizing that it was Lydia when he inhaled and smelled her familiar perfume. She had gone off to some college program across the country, and Stiles thought she would be there for the whole summer.

"Oh my god Lydia, you're back! Wait... you're back?"

She peeled herself off of him and laughed. "Yes, I'm back! The program...was not exactly what I was hoping for."

"Was it too difficult? Even for you?"

She laughed again, harder this time. "Don't be ridiculous, the problem was it wasn't nearly as advanced as I was hoping it would be!"

He rolled his eyes; that made much more sense. Lydia was definitely the smartest person he knew, sometimes he even wondered why she was still in high school. "So what brings you here?"

"I heard that they needed some help! I don't know why I even bothered with a resume, they basically just gave me the job."

He felt slightly disappointed, and by Lydia's reaction he could tell that it showed. "Wait, Stiles were you looking to get a job here?"

He shook his head. "No, I literally didn't find out they were even looking for help until a couple minutes ago. Scott and I just spend a lot of time here, and I thought it might be cool. I'm totally happy for you though!"

"I'm pretty sure they'd be willing to hire you. You said you spend a lot of time here right? That could be an advantage! If you talk to the woman at the counter over there, you can probably set something up!" She quickly glanced at her watch. "Oh shit, I need to go. I'm meeting Allison for lunch, but I start tomorrow so I'll see you then!"

Stiles heard her go down the stairs, and the opening and closing of the door downstairs. He smiled, not even realizing how much he had missed her, and happy that he was finally over her. He much preferred her as a friend anyway; kissing her seemed wrong and weird when it happened.

He walked over to the counter, passing Scott who was on his tip toes, perusing some of the higher shelves to see if there was anything interesting.

The woman at the reception, who Stiles knew as Mary, said "Welcome to the Open Windows Library, how can I-oh Stiles it's you! How can I help you dear?"

"Well Mary, I saw your 'Help Wanted' sign and I was wondering if that help was still, you know, wanted?"

She smiled. "Well a lovely girl just came in and took the empty position that we were trying to fill... But I'm sure we would be able to fit you in somehow! How would you feel about running the counter?"

"What, you mean take your job? I wouldn't wanna do that!"

"Don't think of it as replacing me dear, it would be more like assisting me!" He smiled and nodded.

"Ok then, when do I start?"

"Actually...Are you free right now?"


	2. Chapter 2

As it turned out, the work wasn't nearly as easy as Stiles had expected. Mary often sent him running around the library to put books back on shelves or help customers find them. The selection wasn't huge as the store was fairly small, and as Stiles worked he came across many books that he had already borrowed and finished.

Eventually Mary called him back over to the reception counter with a new task. "It seems we've run out of _My Furry Boyfriend Volume 1_, it's gone fast this summer. You kids and your damn werewolf stories... Anyway, I think we might have a few extra copies in the cellar downstairs, could you go look for me?"

"Sure thing! What was that title again?"

She sighed. "_My Furry Boyfriend Volume 1_..."

He smirked. "Sounds like you're familiar with the series?"

"No Stiles, I know the title because so many customers have been buying it, please just go!"

He chuckled as he crossed the room towards the stairs, looking into the aisles for Scott as he did. Scott was sitting on the opposite end of the shelves on a small cushioned ledge, absentmindedly flicking through a book about dogs. Stiles called to him from across the room.

"Scott, I'm headed downstairs and might need some help! Mind coming with?" Scott put the book down and hopped up, joining Stiles as he creaked his way back down the stairs. Before they got to the bottom, Stiles remembered that he had no idea where the cellar was. He stopped halfway down the stairs and turned back to Scott.

"Hey I kinda don't know where I'm supposed to be going, could you go ask Mary where the cellar is for me?"

Scott rolled his eyes but ascended the staircase again as Stiles continued to the bottom, where he stopped dead. The guy from outside was leaning against the counter, talking to the female barista that worked the coffee shop in the evenings. He felt his heart catch in his throat and then drop to his stomach, realizing that he was probably flirting with her and how could he ever be so stupid as to get his hopes up and why did he always do this to himself? He heavily stepped down onto the floor and sighed as Scott joined him.

"She says that it's just over... HEY, that's the guy from!-"

Stiles whipped around and put a hand over his mouth, the rest of Scott's sentence muffled. Scott swatted his hand away and frowned.

"What's the problem?"

"Don't attract unnecessary attention!"

"Stiles, relax. I wasn't even talking that loud..."

"Ok, I'm sorry, you're right. Just tell me where the stupid cellar is." He changed the subject quickly, not wanting to have a run in with him. Scott's frown turned into a look of sympathy. "

Don't get too hung up on this. He's just some guy, you don't even know his name! Trust me, in a couple days you'll forget all about-"

Scott continued to talk but Stiles wasn't paying attention. Instead he was looking over Scott's shoulder at the guy, noticing how tightly his shirt fit him and how broad his shoulders were in comparison with his tight waist, and as he continued down he had to stop himself because _whoa_, those jeans showed off his ass really well.

"-and then you'll move on to some other guy and it won't be a big deal anymore! ... Did you listen to anything I just said?"

"Yeah! Uh, forgetting about some other guy, learning his name, something like that?" Stiles was trying to pay attention to both Scott and the guy at the same time, and not doing a very good job.

Scott glared at him and shook his head. "I'm trying to help alright? Least you could do is try to listen!"

Stiles smiled. "I really appreciate your help, but I also really appreciate how good looking this guy is!"

Scott punched him in the shoulder. "C'mon, you're not shallow like that!"

He shrugged. "Considering I have zero knowledge about his personality, looks are the only thing I have to judge him on. And he's getting a 10 from me at the moment." And in that same moment, his conversation with the barista ended with... a handshake? Stiles frowned and Scott turned around, observing what was happening. "Wait a minute, if he really was flirting with her he wouldn't have ended that conversation with a freaking handshake..."

Scott shook his head. "No, look!" He pointed to the counter, where there was yet another 'help wanted' sign. The barista removed it from the counter and placed it underneath, which meant... Stiles' eyes widened at the realization.

"Oh no... Oh no, _oh no no no_-"

"Wait! Stiles, this could be a good thing! You can get to know him now that you're gonna be working with him!"

He took a deep breath. "How the fuck am I supposed to function with that in the same vicinity as me. Oh God what if I do something stupid and he sees, what if I accidentally say something really weird, what if he realizes that I think he's hot and gets totally creeped out?! Ok fuck this, I definitely have to quit this job!"

Scott looked confused. "Stiles, you literally took this job less than an hour ago, I think you need to calm down! Just think about it; he'll be working down here and you'll be upstairs for the most part! Plus the cellar is all the way over there-" he pointed to an old looking door on the opposite end of the room "-so if you have to go down there again for some reason you can avoid him! Stiles, of you're not gonna try to get to know him, that's ok! But you can't let one attractive guy ruin things for you!"

He closed his eyes, sighed, then smiled. "You know I hate it when you're right!"

Scott beamed, proud of his small but inspiring pep talk.

"Alright, well let's go get those books before Mary starts to wonder where we are." They both crossed the room to the door.

"You never told me, which book is it that we're trying to find?"

Stiles stifled a laugh. "_My Furry Boyfriend Volume 1_. Apparently it's some kind of popular werewolf romance novel. Type of thing teen girls get obsessed with. Kind of a coincidence that it had to be werewolves huh?"

Scott playfully flashed his yellow eyes at Stiles, then nudged him down into the dark stairwell.


	3. Chapter 3

It was about a week before Stiles had a run-in with his new, mysterious co-worker. It was a Friday evening, and things at the Open Windows were starting to slow down. Every so often someone would come in a browse for a few minutes, but end up leaving due to lack of interest.

Stiles was exhausted, so he decided to go downstairs to get a coffee. He wasn't worried about seeing him, because he knew a girl named Kira worked in the evenings, so he went downstairs, which was completely empty. He stood at the counter and Kira wasn't there, so he rang the bell. Out of the back room came the very person he wasn't expecting to see.

He felt his stomach flip, his palms began sweating, and his heart started to race. _What the hell is he doing here?_ He came up to the counter and smiled, waiting for a moment, then raising his eyebrow.

"So, did you need something?"

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "NO! I mean, uh, yes. Just a coffee please, leave room for sugar and cream."

"Alright, anything else?" Stiles shook his head, turning around and massaging his temples as his coffee was prepared. "Alright, here you go!" Stiles turned around and accepted his coffee as the barista smiled again. His smile was beautiful, and Stiles couldn't help but smile as well.

"How much is it?"

"Don't worry about it, uh..." he pointed at Stiles as though to indicate asking a question, and Stiles realized he was asking for his name.

"Oh sorry, I'm Stiles!"

He chuckled. "That's an interesting name... Well nice to meet you Stiles, I'm Derek! So yeah don't worry about the coffee, it's on me!"

Stiles smiled at him again. "Thanks, are you sure-?"

"I insist, it's just three dollars anyway!"

"Well if you're sure. then thanks again! Hey can I ask where Kira is? She usually works evenings so I was just surprised not to see her."

"We switched times, it was easier for her to work mornings so I took over for later in the day."

"Ok, well it was nice to meet you, I have to head back upstairs now!" Stiles hastily headed towards the stairs but he was stopped by Derek.

"Wait! What about your cream and sugar?"

Stiles whipped around, almost spilling his coffee all over himself. "Right, the cream and sugar, thanks." He walked over to the table next to the counter where the sugar packets and carton of cream sat. He felt Derek's eyes on him the whole time as he added just the right amount of both items to his drink. He looked up and Derek quickly looked away, pretending to be wiping down the counter. "Well I...I guess I'll see you around!"

Derek looked up again, giving him a little wave and going back to cleaning up. Stiles nearly ran up the stairs to tell Scott, who was still there, but in the process ended up spilling some coffee on his pants. He groaned, but was also happy that he would have to go back downstairs to grab napkins. He descended the stairs once more, expecting to see Derek still at the counter, but he wasn't there. He crossed again to the table, keeping quiet as he realized Derek was in the back room on the phone.

"-yes everything is in place, Don't worry, I have it covered! I think I hear someone, I have to go!"

Stiles frowned and grabbed some napkins as Derek came back out, his eyes widening when he saw it was Stiles.

"I forgot to grab napkins, I'm sorry I didn't really hear-"

"Don't worry about it, it was just Kira! She gets concerned about how I'm running things so she calls every so often."

Stiles was skeptical, but his response seemed legitimate so he just attempted to wipe the coffee off of his pants, then groaned as he only made the stain worse. Derek was back to cleaning the counter and Stiles didn't want him to seethe stain, so he quietly ran back upstairs, almost tripping on the last step and losing his balance. He took a second to compose himself, then tried to remember where he set down his coffee.

He thought he had left it right on the counter, but it wasn't there when he looked. He started to look on top of and in between empty spaces of the shelves but couldn't find it anywhere. He frowned and scratched his head, figuring maybe he brought it down with him when he went to get the napkins. He couldn't believe his memory was that bad; he had literally put it down 5 minutes ago.

He crossed the room toward the stairs, then noticed Scott in his usual place on the window ledge, a book in one hand and in the other...

"Scott!" He looked up quickly. "What the hell are you doing with my coffee?" Scott frowned and pointed to it. "Yes, that one dumbass!" Scott put his book down and stood up, walking over to Stiles.

"I thought you went and got this for me!"

Stiles glared at him as Scott took another sip, then noticed that there was something written on the side. "Scott, give me the coffee."

"Aw c'mon, just one more sip!"

"No, give me the coffee!" He grabbed for it but Scott pulled it away, quickly drinking the rest of it. "Was that really necessary?! Plus I don't even care about the coffee, just _give me the freaking cup_!"

Scott looked at him quizzically, then handed him the cup. Stiles grabbed it from his hands and looked at what the writing said:

_**Here's my number, text me when you get a chance! -Derek**_

Stiles went pale and sat down on the floor, staring at the cup in his hand. Was he serious? Was it possible that Derek liked him too?

"Stiles? Are you alright? What's on the cup?! Is it a death threat? Did you get fired via coffee? WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"...It's...it's his number..."

"His number... Whose numb-WAIT, do you mean...the guy?!

Stiles swallowed and nodded, rolling the cup between his palms. "What do I do?

"What do you mean, you have to text him! Stiles he likes you!"

Stiles quickly stood up and shook his head. "He's not serious, he can't be! He's just, I don't know, messing with me or something. Whatever, I don't care..."

Scott frowned. "Stiles, I have a feeling he's not trying to trick you. Ever thought that it was possible that he might actually like you?"

"I mean I've been hoping, but it almost seems too good to be true, you know?"

Scott nodded. "Well, I say you text him and just keep that in mind. If he really is messing with you, then you stop talking to him because he's an asshole. If not..." He smiled and winked at Stiles, who smiled back, then pulled out his phone and added the number to his contacts. He typed out a quick message that said 'hey, it's Stiles' and hit send, hoping for the best. After a few minutes, he got a reply that said 'hi! my shift ends in 10 minutes, would you wanna do something after?'. Stiles replied so fast, he almost broke his phone.


End file.
